Bloomberg also visited Capitol Hill on Wednesday, and talked about guns with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.), Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) and found the meetings productive. “While none of them made a specific commitment — so you can’t go back and say, ‘you told Bloomberg this’ — I walked away comfortable that they understand the issue and that they will be there,” he said.

Bloomberg and the media have been happy to spin the victory over Debbie Halvorson as his having bought that seat, but the Chicago Tribune thinks there’s more to it than that, and there certainly is. This was a long shot pickup possibility for us. I like making Bloomberg spend big money on long shots.

Also, the fact that McCain has been so non-committal on a private sale ban, instead of enthusiastically leading the charge, as you might expect, is surprising. I’m not certain he’s has a change of heart on the issue, but perhaps he realizes how bad it would damage the GOP if they are seen as caving to Bloomberg and the Administration on gun rights. If he doesn’t realize that, he should. And so should every other Republican.